Across the River
by AzureInfinitum
Summary: She can't help it, really. Sadie can travel the whole world to her heart's content, but there's one city that she isn't allowed to go to. Which, of course, means that she has to go to Manhattan.
1. The Drakon

**Title:** Across the River

**Rating: **K+

**Summary:** She can't help it, really. She can travel the whole world to her heart's content, but there's just _one_ city that she isn't allowed to go to. Which, of course, means that she _has_ to go there. Most people would call her stupid for going directly against the warnings, but Sadie Kane is far from stupid. No, she's revolutionary. She's the former host of the goddess Isis. She's one of the most powerful magicians to be born in centuries. And you better believe that she's going to cross that bloody river if she has to _build_ a bridge herself.

**Disclaimer:** The _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series, the _Kane Chronicles_ series, and all included characters belong to Rick Riordan.

**- Quotes from _The Red Pyramid_addressing the PJO series -**

_"So you can't live in Manhattan?" She asked._

_Amos's brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate."_

_"Other what?" Sadie demanded._

_"Nothing."_

_Thoth looked offended. "In Ancient Egyptian, it's a perfectly fine name. The Greeks called me Thoth. Then later they confused me with their god Hermes. Even had the nerve to rename my sacred city Hermopolis, though we're nothing alike. Believe me, if you've ever met Hermes—"_

"_Agh!" Khufu yelled through a mouthful of Cheerios._

"_You're right," Thoth agreed. "I'm getting off track."_

**- Chapter 1 -**

I shut the flap of the magical kit and grab for my check list. Alright:

_- Clothes_ Plenty.

_- Toiletries_ Check.

-_ Money_ More than enough.

- _Wand _Always.

_- Staff _In rod form, yes.

-_ Twine_ Just in case.

- _Water _In here.

_- iPod _Yeah.

_- Anti-ba-travel pillow _A mouthful, but yes.

_- Snickers_ In all his glory.

I fold the list into quarters and tuck it into the pockets of my blue jeans. Aside from the jeans, today's outfit is a loose, white, angel sleeve blouse (made of cotton, of course) and a pair of black and white converse. I would have preferred my boots and something in a darker color, but these are clothes that won't hinder my magic. I can't be sure of what I'll find on the other side of the river, but if it's a battle, then I'm ready for it.

Picking my amulet up off of my bed, I tie it around my neck and slip it down the front of my shirt. I don't normally wear it considering it still has a bit of Isis in it, but wearing this will reassure that my family won't be able to magically track me down.

With everything ready, I sling my magical kit over my shoulder and give my room one last look over. I might not see it again for a while. We finished repairing the mansion only a month ago, but I've already become attached to this room.

Focus, Sadie. If you get caught up in nostalgia, you'll miss your window of opportunity.

I walk out of my room and turn into Carter's. I have been in his room before, but it feels strange to be in here without Carter being home. He's looking for clues with Uncle Amos about where Zia is. I told him that I was going to take a nap, and so he and Uncle left me with Khufu, who's sleeping right now. God only knows where Bast is and what she's up to right now. I've lost track of her completely nowadays.

His bed is so neatly made that I put my note on it in hopes that he'll notice it as soon as he comes in. It essentially tells him that I am going to Paris to look for clues for Zia and that he shouldn't come after me or worry about me.

That done, I leave Carter's room, climb down the stairs to the main level, and quietly sneak out of the front door. Uncle Amos put a locking spell on it, but it's nothing too complicated for me to undo. I can proudly say that my skill in magic has gotten much stronger. Repairing the mansion gave me plenty of practice.

I descend the many stairs of the warehouse our mansion is on top of and come out onto the streets, where I merge with the crowd. I'm taking the subway. Yes, yes, I _know_ there are about a thousand better, _faster_ways that I could get to Manhattan, but any form of teleportation would leave a magical trace. And turning into a kite always has the unfavorable chance that I might not be able to turn back. And I would rather throw myself into the East River right now than face Carter's smug smile if he found out I was stuck as a kite again.

The station is slightly crowded, but it's nothing I can't stand. I took The Tube regularly back in England too, so plotting out all of my stops and exchanges isn't really that challenging. The trip should be thirty minutes.

Taking the least crowded cart, I sit down on the bench and pull out my iPod and headphones. The Artic Monkeys come on just as the doors to the cart close. We take off a few seconds later.

It's only during my second exchange that I realize someone is following me. No, I'm not exaggerating. They've stayed within a twenty foot radius of me for the past twenty minutes. I would normally just consider it as them having the same destination I do, but suspicious signs are too obvious to ignore: they get in the same cart (whether or not it is crowded) as me every time, they are wearing heaving winter clothes and a hat that hides their face, I can constantly feel their eyes watching me, and they always stand on the opposite side of the cart from me.

By my third (and final) exchange, I'm starting to feel paranoid. I take off in a dash as soon as the doors open and the person is right behind me. I hop onto my next train and switch carts twice before I finally let myself settle down onto the bench, panting and sweaty.

Something burns into the side of my face, so I carefully turn to look with dread. Naturally, they're walking into this cart. Who are they? An enemy? A rapist? A mugger?

Instead of walking to the opposite end of the cart though, the person walks straight towards me.

"I haven't got much money. Nothing worth your time or worth being taken out by this station's security," I tell them as they come closer. It's against the rules of a magician to attack mortals, but I will if this person doesn't back off.

They stop in front of me just as the doors to the cart close. I wonder what I should turn them into. A caterpillar? A sunflower, maybe? A rat would be more appropriate for this location, though.

Just before my hand can slip into my magical kit, I hear a bloke say from my other side, "Hey, I'm Percy."

I look over at him. Had he been there a minute ago? Regardless, he's a teenager (probably around Carter's age) with black hair and sea green eyes. The expression on his face makes it seem like he can't even believe what he just said, but there is something hidden underneath the disbelief. I've seen concealed panic enough times from enough people to be able to identify it on this boy.

"Sadie," I mumble softly as I turn to back to the person. They're standing on the other side of the cart again, looking out the window as if nothing had even happened.

"Are you from the UK?" he asks.

"What was your first clue?"

He gains a slight smile, like rudeness is something he is used to. "The accent was a good give-away."

"Believe me when I say that I'm working on it. I've only been in the States for two months." Seeing his smile, I feel myself blurt out, "I used to live here."

The subway turns a curve and our shoulders bump together. He asks, "Why'd you move?"

Now _why_ did I mention that I used to live here? What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, my mum died, so my dad went to court with my grandparents over custody of me and he lost.' Somehow, I don't quite think that would go over very-

"Oh ... I'm, uh, sorry to hear that," Percy says.

"Sorry to hear what?"

He shoots me a confused look. "About your mom. And your dad losing custody."

Did I say that out loud? No, I am pretty sure I didn't. Scooting away from him, I say, "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I don't appreciate mind readers."

"What are you talking about?" He looks even more confused than before.

"Just cut the act, alright? I was thinking about my mum and dad; I never said anything out loud."

"Yeah you did."

"No I didn't."

"You did."

"I didn't."

"Yeah-"

"I should know what I did or didn't say!" I snap. Are the people in this cart deaf? They haven't looked over here once.

He holds his hands up in a harmless gesture. "So why are you going to Manhattan?"

I cross my arms and lean back in the bench. "Just want to sight see." Watching him from my peripheral, I can't help but ask, "What about you?"

Percy scratches the back of his neck nervously. "Visiting my dad."

"Divorce?" I ask, feeling a twinge of sympathy.

"Something like that, yeah."

Wait, something like that, he says? "Don't tell me your mum is ..."

His gazes snaps up to me and he quickly shakes his head. "No, she's still ... still, uh, alive."

"Why isn't she going with you then?"

He shifts on the bench, practically radiating discomfort. "It's kind of a long story."

Bad divorce, more than likely. Poor kid. Emma cried for weeks when her parents told her they were going to have a divorce, and their split was pretty clean by divorce standards. It must have been really bad for his mum to not even take him to his dad's house.

"So, your dad ... where does he live?" Percy asks.

What to say? Well, there is always the direct approach: "He's dead."

Percy's eyes fly open so quickly I almost laugh. He stutters out, "Oh man, I'm ... I keep saying the dumbest things. I'm not an idiot, I promise."

A laugh escapes and I feel a smile tugging at my lips. "My judgement is good enough to pick out idiots. You're not one of them."

"Uh, thanks?" He smiles back. It really lights up his face; he should do it more often. He'll have the girls kissing his seat in no time ... God, what I am thinking? Hathor must be playing with my mind.

Our cart slowly pulls to a stop and the doors slide opens. This is my stop. Manhattan, here I am. I stand up and walk out, but Percy catches up to me and walks at my side. I shoot him a curious look, but he is looking ahead, his hands stuffed in his pockets. The perfect picture of casualness.

Alright, I can play along. "Do you want to have lunch together, Percy?"

"Sure," he says with a grin.

"What about your dad? Isn't he expecting you?"

Percy's grin melts. "No, he doesn't know that I'm even here. Well, he _might_ know, but I'm not really sure." He trails off and shrugs. "So no, I have time for lunch."

We climb the steps of the subway station and emerge out on a busy street. The second I step off of the stairs, I feel something like nervousness gather in the pit of my stomach. It makes me feel nauseous, like when I convinced Carter that we should follow Dad even when he told us to run. Or when I had to read that poem in front of my English class back in fifth grade. I can't help the feeling that I shouldn't _be_ here. Especially with some strange bloke I met just minutes ago.

"Are you ok?" Percy asks.

I nod and start walking down the streets. "What do you want to eat?"

He looks around us and suggests, "How about ... Burger King?"

"Sure, why not."

We walk towards the sign together, but I realize about halfway there that Percy isn't next to me anymore. I look back and see him standing at the entrance to an alley. He's staring at a puddle that is against the side of the alley with sunlight reflecting off of it to make a misty sort of rainbow.

"Yes, yes, it's beautiful. Can we eat now?" I ask him, putting my hands on my hips.

He turns back to me and smiles as we start back towards Burger King, but that slight panic undertone has returned to it.

It's slightly crowded, but to the point that I can't find us a table. He orders a cheeseburger, but I have to take a large set of chips and a soda. If I'm going to run into more people like that one on the subway, I'll have to keep animal products far away from me. It's a shame, because I could really use a hamburger right now. He stares at my almost empty plate as we sit down at the table. Please don't ask.

"You're just getting fries and a drink?" he asks.

I sigh and think up a quick excuse. "I'm ... giving veganism a try."

"Veganism?"

"Yeah. You know, don't eat or wear anything animal? Animal rights and all that." I can't blame him; I had never heard of veganism until Liz's sister suddenly announced that she was going to be vegan. The idea sounds ridiculous to me, but it makes for a good excuse in this case.

Percy's forehead wrinkles as he shoots me a skeptical look. "You don't look like you really believe in that kind of stuff."

"Would you rather me rant and rave about how animals are exploited in today's society?" I ask sarcastically.

"No, I'm good."

I look up from my tray at Percy. When he isn't twitching in his seat, his foot is tapping against the bar supporting our table. "My turn to ask: are you alright?"

He looks back at me and then his gaze drops to his tapping foot, which immediately freezes. "I have ADHD."

"We could have gotten take away if you'd mentioned that."

"No, it's ok." He shakes his head and stands up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Alright."

He walks away so briskly that I reckon he must have to go pretty bad. Either that or his ADHD is bad enough that he is just desperate to go _somewhere_. I feel bad for keeping the bloke in one place. Well, he should have just told me instead of keeping it a big secret. Is he ashamed of it? Why would he be?

Five minutes tick by, but Percy doesn't return. I toss my trash in the waste bin and walk to the loos to see if he is coming out right now. He isn't, but another man is.

"Excuse me, sir?" I ask the man. "Is there a teenage boy in there?"

He shakes his head. "No, I was the only one."

Lying _twerp_! He left me! If I ever see his face again, he'll be on the other end of my wand! I'll turn him into a snake - no, a cockroach! And then I'll stomp on him! How _dare_ he follow me around and then take advantage of my kindness! I should have left him at the station, but _no_, I had to do the _nice_ thing! Shows what being nice does for you!

I storm out of the Buger King and start down the street in the opposite direction of the subway station.

If he was having such a bad time with me, he could have just said so! Worst yet, I can't think of anything I might've done to make him upset or uncomfortable enough to run. Does he hate vegans? Is he _that_sensitive about his ADHD?

... What if his dad called him? That could be it: he was in the bathroom, his cell phone rang, his dad (who must have heard from Percy's mom that Percy is in Manhattan) demanded where he was, and so Percy told him he'd be right there and left. He could have bothered to at least say goodbye, but I can understand the urgency.

Get it together, Sadie. You sound like a lovesick school girl trying to think up excuses for why she got stood up. The bottom line is that Percy left you without saying goodbye.

The person from the subway chooses that moment to come out of their hiding place the alley ahead of me.

I glare at them. "Bugger off! I'm not in a good mood."

They crook their finger at me in a 'follow me' gesture and then walk back into the alley. Obviously not a trap. Obviously. Ah, I'm feeling a bit fumed right now. Maybe turning someone into something amusing will make me feel better. I walk into the alley and see the person standing across from me.

Not a person. A serpent ... thing. Tall, thick scales, and devious-looking. I've never seen anything like it before, but I bet Carter would be able to tell what it is if he was here. A big wad of acid lands between my feet, making the pavement sizzle and crack. Now is _not_ the time to be thinking about Carter.

Pulling my magical kit open, I grab my wand and my staff. As soon as I get them out, I have to dodge another shot of venom.

First spell up is my personal favorite: "_Ha-di!_"

The orange light comes straight at the serpent, but it _bounces off_ of the thing's scales. It hits the wall to the right of the creature and makes the brick explode. The serpent backs away from the wall, but is otherwise unhurt. Leave it to me to find a magic-proof monster in an alley of a town I'm not supposed to be in in the first place, without Carter or Uncle Amos around.

Three spells later and the monster isn't even scratched. Just probably a lot more angry than when we started. There isn't an inch of brick in this alley that hasn't either been hit by my rebounding spell or melted off with that acid venom. I shoot a striking spell at him with as much power as I can muster. It sends the snake crashing into the wall on the opposite side of the alley. No damage, again, but the monster finally snaps.

I feel (more than see) the giant burst of flames coming from the other side of the alley. The wave of flames rushes past me just as I step to the side.

Oh, _come on_! It can breathe fire now?

If Carter were here, he would tell me to run. He would say that I'm outmatched and that I should leave before I become roasted-Sadie-jerky. But, then again, Carter has always been the run first, fight later type. That is just one of the many things that makes us so different from each other. Besides, I've put too much effort into this fight to run now.

Plunging my staff into the ground, I create a protective force field around me. It's strong enough to keep the acid away, but it's probably not enough for another round of fire. Alright, plan. I need a plan. Preferably one that doesn't end with me dying. Sadly, most of the plans I can think of don't end favorably on my part. Oh ... oh wait ... that could work.

Straining to keep my staff in place, I reach over to the floor against one of the walls where a large piece of brick has broken off. Acid hits my shield and I realize how depleted my power reservoir is. Anymore of this and I'll be taking from my life source. Which is something I refuse to do. Which, in turn, means that it's time to end the fight for good.

Right before the serpent breathes a wave of fire, I drop my force field, whisper into the chunk of brick, aim, throw it, and duck as scorching flames go over my head and burn my back.

The flames cut off within seconds. I look up and see the snake choking and wheezing on the chunk of brick thrown into its throat. My power climaxes as the orange-glowing rock (and, consequently, the serpent) explodes. Battle over.

My adrenaline cuts off and my sense comes rushing back to me: the sizzling of the fresh fire, the sound of the serpent's body dropping to the ground, the smell of burnt brick and blood, the scorching sensation on my back from where the fire got me, and my utter exhaustion. I drop to all fours as my muscles scream in pain and overexertion. Just barely having the presence of mind to do it, I drop onto my back and roll a bit until I feel the flames on the back of my shirt extinguish.

And as my eyes are shutting and I'm fading into unconsciousness, I can't help but think that Manhattan was probably _not_ worth coming to.


	2. Brief Introductions

**- Chapter 2 -**

It smells like medicine and disinfectant in here. Am I in the school infirmary? What happened? I was ... Carter ... Percy ... serpent ... serpent!

I jerk fully awake and look around quickly. No alley. I'm in an infirmary. How did I get here? I went unconscious after I sent that last blow to the monster. Speaking of which, what exactly _was_ that serpent? I've seen plenty of hieroglyphs and monsters so far, but that thing was unlike anything I've ever seen.

Something moves in my peripheral. A girl with blonde hair and grey eyes is standing in the doorway, watching me. I look back at her and slowly feel around this cot for my wand or staff. Neither are here. She turns on her heel and disappears back through the doorway without another word.

I throw the cotton covers off of me and get to my feet to start searching around my bunk.

My magical kit, my wand, my staff; they're all missing. I haven't tried to use magic without a wand ever since I stopped hosting Isis. I probably won't be able to win a one-on-one battle without my wand, but I can surely at least _try_. If these people prove threatening, I mean.

Footsteps are coming this way. I straighten up and face the doorway with my chin held high, a spell on the tip of my tongue.

A man with shaggy, brown hair and brown eyes rolls into the room in a wheelchair. Percy comes in right after him, eyes jumping to me as a relieved smile stretches across his face. I feel a strange mix of anger and nervousness in seeing his face. The former is justified, but the latter ...

"You're up." Percy stops in front of me and shifts from his left foot to his right uncomfortably.

I roll my eyes. "Not that you care."

Percy's face turns confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

I walk towards him and say, "If you weren't having a good time, you could have just told me so. Leaving without a word was completely uncalled for."

His eyes widen and he quickly says, "You thought - I didn't leave you! I was making a ... a phone call."

"A phone call you needed to leave the restaurant for? Better yet, why didn't you just _tell_ me you needed to make a phone call?" He goes to reply, but I don't want to hear his excuse. He can't trust me, evidently. I cross my arms and say, "Nevermind. Where is my bag?"

The man in the wheelchair speaks up, "It is in your cabin."

They moved my bag? To some cabin, furthermore? "Did you _look through_ it?"

"We couldn't get it open." Percy shakes his head.

"May I ask who gave it to you?" the man asks.

"May I ask who you are?" I shoot back.

Percy blinks owlishly and then gestures between us. "Oh, right. Sadie, this is Chiron. Chiron, this is Sadie."

That doesn't really tell me much about my situation, but this Chiron man is staring at me intently for an answer to his question.

"My father gave it to me."

Not fair from the truth; it was a birthday present from Dad after I ripped the old magic kit Zia gave me. He magically increased the amount of space in it so that it is bigger on the inside than on the outside. He also made it so that only members of the Kane family can open it. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about a random mortal opening it and taking all of my magical items.

Chiron and Percy both look at each other expectantly, and I get the distinct feeling that what I've just said means something very important to them.

"Percy tells me both of your parents have passed away," Chiron comments softly. "I am sorry to hear that."

I glare at Percy. "Did he, now?"

Percy groans. "This is all coming out wrong. Sadie, I needed to tell him about that. It's important here."

"Where is 'here,' by the way?" I ask Chiron.

"Camp Half-Blood. We house and train children who have one Olympian parent and one human parent."

"Excuse me: Olympian?" I repeat. The word sounds vaguely familiar. Carter has probably mentioned it in one of his thousands of historical rants.

Chiron nods. "The rulers of this world. Greek gods, such as Zeus."

Tell me he didn't just Greek gods. I think back to the first time Uncle Amos mentioned Manhattan. What did he say? Different problems, different ... _gods_? _Cor_, Manhattan is ruled by _Greek_ gods! Is this why they told us not to come here? Do the Olympians know that I'm an Egyptian magician? I'm not going get zapped by lightening or thrown into hell, am I? Do the Greeks even have a hell? Is it any worse than having my heart eaten by Ammit?

"Sadie?" Percy asks.

I hold up a hand to silence him. "Just ... you think I have a parent who is a Greek god?"

Percy says, "Yeah. My dad is Poseidon, God of the Sea."

Oh my god! _Percy_ is half _god_! They think that I'm half god, too! But if I tell them about my family, it could cause problems between the Greek gods and our gods, couldn't it? Amos said we should stay separate from each other. My being here couldn't ... start a _war_ between us, could it?

"So when you - you said you were visiting your dad? The Olympians live in Manhattan?" I ask.

"The entrance to Mount Olympus moves where ever the gods want it to. Right now, it's ontop of the Empire State Building," Percy explains.

Something suddenly 'clicks' inside my head. I ask, "That serpent was a Greek monster?"

"It was a drakon. Grover and I finally tracked you down in that alley, but the battle was already over. How did you kill it, by the way?" Percy asks with a wide grin. It apparently amuses him that I managed to beat a monster that almost _killed_ me.

"I ... threw a firecracker in its mouth."

His eyebrows jump up on his forehead. "You carry firecrackers around with you?"

I give him his look back. "I only had the one. And I'd say it was a good thing I had it at the time, wouldn't you?"

"So then what was that rod and that stick we found next to your bag?" Percy asks.

"Gifts from Dad," I say.

Percy and Chiron share that same look yet _again_.

Chiron finally says, "You say that your father died. Were you present for his death?"

"Why?" I ask skeptically.

Percy answers, "We think your dad is the god."

The irony behind that statement almost makes me laugh at loud. If only they _really_ knew who my dad is. Speaking of which, do they have some sort of spell that can tell them who my real dad is? If they do, this could turn out badly.

"Is there a way for you to find out for sure?" I ask unsurely.

Percy frowns. "Ah, no. They have to claim you themselves."

Chiron adds in, "Until you are claimed, you will be staying in the Hermes cabin. They hold all children of minor gods or unclaimed children."

Hermes. Didn't Thoth mention something about a Greek god named Hermes once? It is times like these where I really wish I had payed more attention to some of Carter's history rants.

"Percy, will you take Miss ..."

"Kane," I provide Chiron.

"Miss Kane to my office to watch the orientation film after she changes?" he asks Percy.

Percy nods and so Chiron rolls out of the infirmary. I look back at Percy curiously, "Changes?"

He walks over to the little table beside my cot and picks up the orange t-shirt with "Camp Halfblood" written on it lying there. Noticing me studying the shirt, he says, "It's the camp shirt. I, uh, made sure it didn't have any 'animal products.' Your blanket, too."

I glare at him, but just can't muster up the feeling behind it. "Don't act sweet; I'm still mad at you."

"Seriously? I had to call the people here to ask for a ride! What, with that drakon chasing you-"

"Which you didn't help me fight!"

"Because you left the restaurant before I could come back!"

"I thought you ditched me."

He gets a half-smile and says, "Well, I didn't. I searched half of Manhattan for you, actually."

I shove his shoulder. "Go wait outside for me. I'm going to change."

His cheeks turn a cute shade of pink and he locks his eyes to the ground as he walks out of the infirmary. I pull off my burnt white shirt and tenderly touch my back. It hurts, but not nearly as bad as it should have normally. Maybe they used some sort of Greek healing magic on me. I pull the t-shirt over my head and tuck my amulet under it like before. That done, I walk out of the infirmary and see Percy waiting for me a ways down the hall from the door. The shyness is almost painfully cute.

We walk into a room with a desk, a couch, and a video screen. I sit down on the couch while Percy fiddles with the device. It suddenly shuts on and Percy sits down next to me as we watch the orientation video.

By the end of the video, I can honestly say that my brain is properly fried with an information overload. Aside from all of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, now Greek gods and goddesses are bouncing around inside of my head. Additional information, too: the layout of this camp, rules for capture the flag, and important figures at this camp. The camp director is the Greek god of wine. He reminds me of Bes, who is this little, Egyptian dwarf god that likes to crack jokes and "brings luck to worshipping households." Chiron is the camp instructor and a centaur, apparently.

"Where is his horse body then?" I ask Percy as we both stand up to stretch.

Percy grins. "His wheelchair hides his horse body magically. He uses it with new campers so he doesn't freak them out."

"This is crazy."

"I couldn't believe it when I first came here either." Percy nods his head towards the door. "You ready to go to the Hermes cabin?"

I follow him out of the office and, soon enough, we are walking through camp. This is serious. They expect me to stay here for good. Not even going home for the winter like some of the other kids do, because I don't have any living parents as far as they're concerned.

"You ok?" Percy asks, knocking our shoulders together.

I knock his shoulder back. "Can campers leave here for reasons other than being signed out by parents or graduating?"

He frowns. "There's quests, but those only happen every once in a while. And only a few people get picked each time. Why? Do you think you won't like it here?"

"That isn't it." I can only stay here for so long before Carter and Uncle Amos become suspicious and begin to look for me.

Percy lets out a small, slow breath of air and says, "Look, I get that this happened really fast. In a way, we kind of just kidnapped you, and now we're forcing you to stay here. It's a lot to handle, and I'm sorry. But I promise, you'll love this place if you give it a try."

"Again, that isn't it," I say just as we step into the "U" shaped cabin area. Percy takes me up towards the most run-down looking one that I suppose to be the Hermes cabin. I expect him to leave me there, but he surprises me by walking into the door and holding it open for me.

The inside is just as crowded as I was anticipating it would be. The kids already here have hair and eye color of all different sorts; some of them unclaimed, and some of them claimed by gods who don't possess a cabin at this camp. Only a few of them glance up at Percy and I when we come through the doorway.

Percy walks up to one of the unmade bunks, where two, similar-looking boys are currently sitting.

"Hey, Percy!" the eldest of the boys exclaims.

"What brings you here?" the other asks, grunting as he attempts to pry open something in his lap. Is that my bag?

I rush forward and take it from his hands. Taking a quick peek inside, I assure myself that everything is still there and glare up at the boys. "I'd ask if either of you twits know any manners, but I am sure we all know the answer to _that_ question!"

"Ah, so it's your bag, then?" one of them asks.

The other points to it. "How'd you open it? We've tried everything!"

"Sod off!" I snap at them and turn to Percy. "Where are the others?"

"What others?" he asks in confusion.

Choking back the urge to roll my eyes, I say, "The stick and the rod?"

"Oh! They're, um, in the Big House. Mr. D confiscated them."

"You're joking," I deadpan, hoping against hope that he really is. He shakes his head and I groan. "Why would he confiscate them?"

"I dunno," Percy says. "He wouldn't tell me."

The second boy quickly chimes in, "Want us to get them back for you?"

Turning back to the two boys, Percy says, "Oh, right. Sadie, this is Travis and Conner Stoll. They're the counselors for the Hermes cabin."

"Charmed," I say sarcastically.

"As are we, my dear! That accent is _delicious_!" Travis says, winking at me.

Oh gods, kill me now.


	3. It's NOT In My Blood!

**- Chapter 3 -**

"That's ... sigma."

Sigh. "No, that's theta."

"No, theta is over there."

"That is psi."

"You just said it was theta!"

"I recall nothing of the sort."

Have I mentioned that I hate Athena kids? Because I do. I do very much. In rankings of who you would want to smack repeatedly over the head, Athena kids are somewhere in between Percy and Desjardins. And I mean that in the nicest of ways, of course.

As calmly as I can possibly manage, I say, "Regardless of what you recall, you said it."

"I should know what I did or didn't say."

"Well, you did!"

Lyle snaps the textbook closed and stands up with it in his arms. "Our lesson time is over."

"Because you _know_ that you taught me wrong!" I say, standing up, as well.

Grey eyes flash at me sharply. "I taught you perfectly. You're just a horrible student."

"What was that?" I ask threateningly.

"You heard me!"

_Ooh_, this bloke is just _asking_ for a destruction spell to the face! I fist my hand and bring it up slightly. "You want to go?"

He laughs. "A child of Athena versus a new, unclaimed camper? You'd just be inviting death."

With a sarcastic smile, I say, "I face Death on a regular basis. We're quite close." Some might even say there is a blood relation.

Putting on a mock-impressed expression, he says, "Look who thinks herself all that. That's some big talk coming from someone who hasn't even fought anyone here yet."

"Then I'll give you the honor!" I say and swing my fist at him. It nicks the side of his jaw just as he steps back.

He glares at me and charges, catching my shoulder and swinging me back to his left. I jerk out of his grasp and dig my heels into the ground in order to slow my momentum. His throw is too strong, so I fall back onto my bum. In mere seconds, I squirm on the ground to the right in order to dodge a swift kick that would have caught my midriff.

Back onto my feet, again, I give a wild kick and manage to hit the side of his left hip, sending him stumbling to his right. He turns and runs at me, this time digging his fist dead center into my gut and slamming his other hand upside my jaw, making my teeth click together painfully.

I freeze in the shock of pain for a moment and frantically look for something I can do. Currently, Lyle is leaned over with his fist against my stomach (ouch) and his other hand hovering by my right ear. He's left his entire back side open. With every ounce of strength I have, I drive my elbow down into his lower back. The shout it earns me is well worth the blow to the gut.

"Hey!"

Leave it to _them_ to show up at a time like this.

Lyle jerks away from me and twists in a bent, strange way, trying to avoid irritating the injury on his back. I take a step back from him, too, and bring both of my arms to wrap around my sore middle. There is going to be a bruise there, undoubtedly. One under my chin, as well.

I feel two different elbows lean on each of my shoulders laxly as two, identical faces appear hovering next to my own.

Travis (the taller of the two) says, "Come on, Lyle, getting beaten up by the new girl?"

"Maybe the Athena cabin is just losing their touch," Conner says slyly.

"Shut up!" Lyle says angrily.

"I'd recommend going to the infirmary for an ice pack," Conner changes the subject easily.

Travis smirks. "Man, Will is going to give you some grief when he finds out what happened."

He avoids our gazes and walks in the direction of the Big House silently. A walk of shame if ever I've seen one. Though he is better off than I am; factoring in the stomach injury, I might be limping around for the rest of today. Perhaps even the next few days, if the way I can't even uncurl my body right now is any indication.

While I absolutely loathe the two gits next to me, I can't help feeling slightly grateful for them. If the fight had continued like it did, I doubt I could have won without using magic. Which is a no-no here.

Releasing a loud, fake sigh, Travis says, "If you want to survive at this camp, making an enemy of the Athena kids is _not_ the way to go, Lovely."

"Stop calling me that!" I exclaim, but instantly regret it when my body protests the deep breath I take afterwards.

"They hold the worst grudges," Conner affirms, tugging one of the dyed strands of my hair.

I push his hand away and step back from them. "Lyle won't be able turn his entire cabin against me."

"Maybe not by himself," Conner says with the utmost innocence in his tone. He and Travis begin to walk in the direction of the cabins, forcing me to hesitantly follow after. With plenty of distance between us, of course.

Travis picks up, "But he could if Annabeth helped."

"Why would she help him?"

"You're not exactly tops on her list right now, Lovely."

No shock there. She shows at least some courtesy whenever Percy is around. However, when he isn't, I could very easily classify her as a human blizzard: accusing tone, fortified expression, clipped sentences; it almost reminds me of myself when I first met Zia.

This is different, though. I'm not the wife of the god of destruction, I'm not a dangerous fire magician, and I'm _certainly_ not a living, clay statue. Zia was. _Is_, I mean.

I give him a curious look and ask, "I'm guessing you know why?"

"Well, it _could_ have something to do with the fact that Percy seems attached at the hip with you."

"That's ridic-"

"Or it might be the fact that you're an unintentionally suspicious person," Conner says

Wait, what? "What is that supposed to mean?"

Travis asks, "Yeah, what's up with that pillow you always have to use? And why haven't you gone to the Arena yet to fight?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, Lovely, you should know by now that we consider _everything_ our business," Conner says slyly.

The cabins come into sight, but on just barely. I'm so close! If I can just get into the cabin, I can lay on my bunk and pretend to be asleep until dinner. With any luck, these two will leave me alone until we get there.

"What did you do to make Lyle so mad, anyway?"

Or not.

I suppress a groan and answer Travis, "I can't speak Greek."

"Sure you can. It's in your blood. You just need practice," Conner says in what I guess is supposed to be a reassuring tone, clapping his hand onto my shoulder.

"It is _not_ in my blood!" How dare he say that? My blood is the strongest Egyptian magician blood produced in _centuries_! And good _Lord_, I sound like Isis! "I speak English; that's it."

"Alright, alright. Geez, touchy," Travis says playfully.

We finally make it to our cabin, but just as I am about to sprint through the door, one of their hands closes around the back of my shirt and halts me in my steps. Are you aware of how strong the kids at this camp are? It really shouldn't be surprising (they _do_ spend all of their free time training, after all), but I can't help the shock that comes whenever one of these gits is able to stop or move me with very little effort.

I crane my head around to shoot Travis (it's his hand that is stopping me) a murderous look. "What is it?"

Conner answers for his brother, nodding his head to our left. "Your pal is here."

Gods, please say that he isn't serious! I hesitantly glance in the direction and see the mop of wild, black hair approaching the porch.

"Hey, Travis, Conner, Sadie," Percy greets.

As much as I _really_ just want to lay down and sleep until dinner comes, I know that sending Percy back the way he came is one of quickest ways to hurt his feelings. He would never let the hurt show, but so let it be known that Sadie Kane is _not_ completely heartless and apathetic towards other people's feelings. As experienced by the fact that I can't seem to tell him to bugger off.

So, ha! Take that, Carter.

... Carter. I feel pathetic for it, but I can't help but wonder how he is. Uncle Amos, as well. Where would they be right now? Back at the 21st Nome? Or would they still be searching around for Zia? Oh, gods, what if they've found a clue to Zia's location and went after her alone? Worse yet, what if they ran into members from the House of Life? Carter and Uncle Amos are both good fighters, but even _they_can't fight off an army of magicians, shabti, and summons.

"Sadie?" Something nudges my shoulder forward. I look back and see that it's Conner.

"What?" I ask, completely forgetting what happened before I started thinking about ... well, you know.

Percy, Travis, and Conner all exchange curious looks with one another. I don't like it one bit.

"What?" I ask, again.

Finally, Percy says, "You just looked kind of freaked out all of the sudden. Is everything ok?"

"Fine. What did you come here for, Percy?"

"Oh, uh, I was checking to see if you were back from your Greek lesson yet."

...

Realizing that he isn't going to say anything else, I gesture to the door. "Which I am."

He blinks owlishly. It is moments like these that I recall why Annabeth calls Percy "seaweed brain." He doesn't normally act this slow around other people, from what I hear. Mostly just Annabeth and myself. It's a bit endearing, I suppose.

"Right." Percy suddenly facepalms. "_Right_. Sorry, it's been - it's been a long day, you know?"

"Believe me; I know." Feeling the beginning of another silent streak approaching, I turn to face Percy. He doesn't look like he has anything else to say, but I know that he must have come here to do something together. I ask, "I was planning to go to the Big House. Do you want to come?"

"Oh, sure."

Conner looks confused as he asks, "Since when were you-"

"-planning on taking Percy with you? It isn't fair to let him come with you when you said we can't, Lovely," Travis says, tutting and giving his brother a sly look. The look is quickly returned as Conner seems to come to some sort of realization. Again, I don't like it one bit.

"I can safely trust that Percy won't cause any trouble in the Big House the second I turn away from him, though," I say. Why are they helping me lie? For the sake of letting me spend time with Percy, furthermore.

Wait, no, _no_, I am _not_ lying to spend time with Percy. I'm lying to keep the poor bloke from feeling any worse about himself.

Percy joins my side as we start towards the Big House. Things aren't to remain silent, though.

"What are you going to do at the Big House?" he asks.

I wait for something to come to mind, but nothing does. Ugh, what a time for my lying skills to fail me.

"Sadie ...?"

"I don't know."

Two, black eyebrows raise on his forehead. "Why are you going, then?"

I can't give him an answer. He doesn't seem to need one, though.

I watch from my peripheral as his confused expression slowly fades to a thoughtful one, and then a smile suddenly stretches across his face as he shoves his hands into his pockets. Those green eyes start up a continuous pattern of looking ahead of us, to me, then back ahead of us. I feel a hesitant blush come up on my cheeks and pray he doesn't notice.

"... Because of me?"

"Come off it, Percy!" I say, feeling the tone come out harsher than intended because of my embarrassment. He seems to shrug off the tone and comment entirely as his smile grows.

We've reached the half way point between the cabins and the Big House, but only just. Why does everything have to be so far apart at this camp? What do they do in emergencies or battles when messages need to be delivered from one building to another?

I slam into something and stumble back, feeling a thrush of pain when my stomach heaves at a loss for breath and upsetting my newly formed bruise. When I look up, I see the person I slammed into is a bloke with fiery red hair (a child of Ares?) regaining his balance and glaring at me.

"Are you insane?" He holds up the sword in his hand threateningly and says, "I could have driven this _through_ you if we had hit at different angles!"

"And whose fault would that be, hmm?" I ask.

Percy (who managed to dodge the Ares bloke due to what I can only guess as good reflexes) pulls my to my feet and asks, "What's going on, Thomas?"

Thomas looks between us, as if trying to pick which one he dislikes more. His eyes set onto Percy as he comes to a decision and he says, "There's a crowd of monsters attacking the east side of camp."

Immediately turning serious, Percy starts in a walk after Thomas, who has just now started in the direction he was originally walking. I stay where I am; why chance do I have against monsters if I can't use magic on them? Percy stops walking and looks back at me expectantly.

"I'd rather not," I say, feeling like a right coward for saying it.

He smiles reassuringly. "If you can take down a drakon by yourself, untrained, you can take down whatever we'll meet out there. I'll protect you if something goes wrong, I promise."

Well, that doesn't leave me with much of a choice, now, does it? What, with that smile and those words? Hathor really does hate me, I'm sure. At a slower pace, I catch up to Percy's side and follow after Thomas with him.

You know how they always say things come faster when you are dreading them? A case-perfect example would be right now. It seems only moments later that we reach the east border of camp.

It's standing on top of that hill and looking down at the furry monsters below that I realize just what I've gotten myself into. It all comes rushing into my head:

The fact that I have such close connections with Egyptian gods. The fact that the monsters below us are all different types of monstrous cat creatures. The fact that leading this army of felines is an enormous leopard with familiar, golden eyes filled with fury. The fact that these creatures are here _for me_.

The fact that _I'm_ the reason the Egyptian and Greek gods are going to collide for the first time ever.

"Sadie?" Percy asks, nudging our shoulders together curiously.

"I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry."

**- End of Chapter -**

There can really be no excuse for the belated update of this chapter; I'm really very sorry. My school year is coming to a close, which equates to exams, end of the year projects, and very difficult tests. Not to mention the four-day-long scuffle I had with FF, trying to post my chapters and constantly receiving an error message for my efforts. I can honestly say that I'll be doing my very vest to crank out chapters of my different stories as frequently as I possibly can. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and also for your very kind reviews! They never fail to make me smile.


	4. Reunited

**- Chapter 4 -**

"What do you mean?"

Ok, I can do this. Get to the other side of the battlefield, convince Bast to call off her army, and then ... What? And then what? Should I use this chance to leave Camp Halfblood?

A hand waves in front of my face. "Hey, Sadie, you in there?"

"Y-yeah," I say.

"I know the first battle is kind of nerve-racking, but you've got to focus," he says, pulling out and uncapping Riptide.

A group of Ares children run past us and dive into the inferno of furry bodies and clashing weapons. Looking over my shoulder, I see more campers on the way. Each and every one of them seems completely focused and battle-ready. How often do they do this sort of thing?

I look back to see Percy watching me seriously. He's anxious to help out his friends, I can tell. Yet he's hesitating to leave me behind on my own, which is something that almost makes me want to hug him and pinch his cheeks and coo like my grandmum when she forces me to wear a dress.

He says, "We'll go in when you're ready."

"Is it commonplace here for an army of monsters to randomly attack?" I ask, glancing back at the battle. I'm stalling, I already know.

Shrugging, he says, "It's not normally an _army_, but yeah. Pretty much."

"Just random monster attacks."

"Random monster attacks," he agrees, nodding. "Something about how they're attracted to the magic around here."

"Are we - are we supposed to _kill_ them?" I ask uncertainly.

"Don't worry about it, Sadie. These monsters reincarnate later on. They'll probably be back at this camp in another couple decades."

I'm not sure if I have it in me to run into this battle, swinging a sword around to hit anything near me. Kill a sphinx working for Desjardins? Sure. Kill one of Bast's warriors? That's where my morals get a little shaky.

Percy rocks on his feet slightly, looking between the battle and myself. Must be his ADHD acting up. Well, obviously, I'm out of time to plan. I guess now is the time to do what I do best: improv.

I slap his shoulder encouragingly and sprint down the hill, hearing Percy chase after me and call out my name. Two steps into the mass of furry bodies, and I take a sharp, left turn behind a giant tomcat. I swerve through the crowd a couple of times, dodging fur and sharp weapons until I can't hear Percy calling after me anymore. That's when I start focusing on getting where I need to.

It was - Bast is standing - at the back of the army, isn't she? So where is the back of the army? I stop in one place and turn around a couple of times, trying to jump to see over the huge cats. It was a lot easier to see over them when I was standing on the hill, but I don't exactly have the luxury of the time required to run back to the hill and check my direction. Or, wait, I don't even know which direction the hill is in, either.

If (_when_) I get out here, Carter is going get a patented, Sadie-lecture on just _why_ he should have let me cast that height-growth spell way back when. Being short is a punishment I'm quite tired of enduring.

A two-headed lion lunges over my head to tackle a Hermes kid standing next me. It whacks the sword out of her hands and raises its paw to strike at her chest. Without really thinking (because, honestly, who would intervene here if they _were_ really thinking?) I pick up her sword and jump around to stand in front of the lion's heads, angling the sword to hover in the air between her and the lion's chest.

The lion looks up, growling as it studies me. I hear it sniff the air, and then its ears suddenly flatten out as it whimpers. And so the four-hundred pound, two-headed lion climbs off of the Hermes girl and starts backing tracking away from the both of us.

I look down at the sword, the Hermes girl, then the lion (which is almost out of sight now and still moving). "Alright."

"What was that?" the Hermes girl, Lia, asks as she holds up a hand to me. I pull her up and hand her her sword. She takes it back and studies the hilt curiously. "It was terrified you. Or the sword. Or you _with_ the sword."

"Hey, do you know which way the back of the army is?" I ask.

She gives me a curious look. "Uh, they're facing east, so you'll get to the back if you go west."

"West. Which way is west?"

Flashing a thumbs-up sign, she tilts her hand until her thumb is facing to our right and jerks her head in that direction. I give her a nod and start running that way, doing my best to focus on moving in a straight line so I don't end up having to ask for directions again.

Navigating through this insanity, I can't help feeling a smidge disappointed that nothing has tried attacking me yet. Really, though, I'm passing by four or four battles a minute, six or seven monsters a _second_, but not one of them looks here. Am I not worth their time? Is something about my Egyptian magic making them think I'm a friend?

And _what_ am I thinking? Not being attacked is a _good_ thing! Ra, Sadie, get the crazy out of your head, will you?

I circumnavigate a giant cat's back end and stumble when the space around me suddenly fans out. The back of the feline army. Bast's army. Bast. I step further away from the battlefield and look frantically in both directions. She's nowhere in sight. Just my luck.

Something big and heavy chooses that moment to pounce on my back. I only have time to process the fact that whatever is behind me feels _really_ powerful before I get a face full of dirt. Ow. A giant paw rolls me over onto my back, and I'm suddenly looking up into angry, golden eyes.

"Hey, Bast," I say softly.

"_What in the _world_ were you thinking?_" she exclaims. "_Coming to a camp owned by the _Greek pantheon_?_"

"It wasn't really optional," I put in. Leave it to Bast to make me feel meek for the first time in my life.

Her pupils dilate. "_They kidnapped you?_"

"Not - _really_. I passed out and they took me in. And wouldn't let me out."

"_That's kidnapping._"

"Through cynical eyes, I guess so."

She stares at me blankly for a moment, until something seems to snap back in place in her head and she continues her rant, "_And so there I am: at our home, waking up from a nap, calling your name, and you were nowhere to be found! And so I start tracing your scent - all the way through the _Greeks' _city, which you've been explicitly told to stay away from! To a _Greek_ camp! A _camp_, Sadie! Is it _your goal_ to spend your free time activities doing things you're not supposed to do?_"

"Well, maybe if you told me what was in across the river, I wouldn't have to have found it out by myself!"

Growling, she says, "_You came here because you were _curious_?_"

"Which could have been avoided if you had told me in the first place!"

"_You would have gone no matter what I would have told you!_"

Alright, so that might be true.

Someone screams, and the shock of talking to Bast again wears off. "Bast, call off the army!"

"_Why should I? They attacked one of my scouts! They kidnapped you! And, really, I'm tired of ignoring these people! They endanger this world and its innocent civilians on a regular basis, ignore their own children, and fight constantly!_"

"Isn't that what we do, too? Without the 'ignoring their children' part?"

"_Our pantheon is nothing like the Greeks, Sadie._" Bast finally steps off of me and nudges me into a sitting position with her nose. "_You're lucky Carter doesn't know about this, by the way. He might not have shown as much mercy as I have on these warriors._"

Looking back to the battlefield, I ask, "Where, exactly, is the mercy?"

"_I ordered my warriors not to kill any of them. Of course, they were told to not even touch you._"

"Ah." Shaking my head, I stand up and brush off the back of my pants. "Carter wouldn't have wanted to kill them, either."

Bast concedes, "_Maybe not. We can't discount anything, though. If Carter can merge so easily with Horus, they must be somewhat alike in personality. And Horus is not one to show mercy towards though who attack his family. Of that, Set is a prime example._"

"Sadie!"

My head whips around just in time to see him burst out of the army, scratched and bleeding and studying me frantically with Riptide clenched tightly in his hand.

Bast steps in front of me and hisses. She says, "_Stay back, godling._"

Percy looks up at her, his expression somewhere between exasperated and terrified. He moves his sword into a defensive position as he says to me, "You just _had_ to run into the biggest one in the army, didn't you?"

"No, Percy, she's a friend!" I say, stepping out from behind Bast. I move around her until I'm standing next to her head and wave my arms to get her attention. When she looks at me, I point to Percy and say, "He's a friend, too. No fighting him, and _absolutely_ no changing him into a cat."

"You know this thing?" Percy asks. The tip of his sword lowers, but only just a little.

I nod, trying to decide if now is a good time to tell him the truth. "These guys - this army - it's here for me. I snuck out when I wasn't supposed to. I'm really sorry."

"Whoa, wait," Percy says and holds up a halting hand. He shakes his head. "I don't understand."

"My dad isn't an Olympian; I'm not Greek. I'm ... something else. Which is a really long story, and we don't really have time for it right at this moment, I think." My eyes snap back to the fighting crowd next to us. Oh, I forgot about the battle. "Bast, call your army off! Someone's going to get hurt!"

"_Everyone in that battle has probably already been hurt by now._" Bast rolls her eyes at me, but I feel a thick wave of magic sail through the air a moment later. Every feline warrior on the battlefield vanishes in a giant burst of golden light as a hieroglyph (Bast's name, I think) appears in the air high above the ground.

With their opponents gone, the campers start looking around wildly. Most eyes land and lock onto Percy, Bast, and I. They start running this way.

Bast doesn't even seem to notice them. She flops down onto the ground and nods at her open back. "_Come on. We need to get back home._"

I take a step from her. "Why?"

"_'Why?'_" she repeats, her eyes flashing dangerously. "_Carter is on his way back right now. He'll want you to be there when he gets home._"

"I - don't want to go home."

... What?

"_What?_" Bast asks in disbelief.

"Not yet, at least," I quickly amend.

"Hey," Percy interrupts. He holds up his hand with an apologetic expression and looks between us. "I don't really get what's going on, but, Sadie, if you've got a safe home, you should go back to it."

I can't believe I'm hearing this. From _Percy_. Giving him a "shut up" look, I say, "You don't want me to stay here?"

"No, I definitely do. But explain something to me here: you've got a home somewhere else?" Percy waits for me to nod and then continues, "And it's safe?" Another nod. "And that cat thing is willing to take you back there, right?" Bast shoots him a glare for the comment, but I nod anyway. "Then you should go."

"Are you really telling me to leave?" I ask, suddenly feeling furious and exhausted at the same time. This day has been extremely long.

He doesn't get a chance to respond, though, because the campers reach us at that moment and form a circle around Bast without saying a word to each other. They have their weapons drawn and pointed at her carefully, ready to start fighting if she moves.

She eyes them warily and says, "_Sadie, I don't intend to fight off a group godlings myself today. Let's go._"

"No, wait, just let me speak-" I trail off and push through the crowd of campers, coming to stand next to Bast. I put a hand on her coat and say, "Look, this is all a _huge_ misunderstanding. Bast wasn't trying to launch an attack on the camp."

"So this _is_ their leader," one of the Ares boys concludes, moving his sword towards Bast a little further. She growls at him.

"Should we kill it?" an Apollo girl asks.

An Athena boy says, "No, we should capture it. Killing it will make the cats come back for vengeance. Plus, we can use it as a hostage incase they're planning another attack."

"_Sadie!_" Bast says impatiently. Her fur is starting to bristle; hackles rising and body elevating in warning.

"She's a friend! To you and to me!" I say, trying to stress every word.

The campers finally look at me, but there expressions are the opposite of what I wanted: angry and suspicious. Some of the weapons change angle to point at me now, which makes Bast even angrier.

Thomas says, "Your 'friend' just lead an army against us. You're either with it, or you're with us."

"That's not fair!" I exclaim, looking back at Bast. Obviously, I would choose her. But ... I look back at Percy, who staring at me with a confused expression. It's the same look he gets on his face when he tries to read anything other than Greek.

A bolt of lightning strikes the ground near us without warning, followed by a giant clap of thunder that rumbles in my chest. Bast jerks her head up to glare at the sky and hisses.

A second bolt comes down to strike us directly, but it is hit by another bolt. The two streaks on lightning clash for a moment; pure energy, magic, _force_ pushing against each other with enough power to make the earth shake and wind go into a frenzy. Finally, the two bolts break off from each other and disappear. The winds calm down and the thunder stops, but the clouds stay in place overhead menacingly.

"_Stalemate. For now,_" Bast concludes as she watches the sky seriously. She turns to me and says, "_Sadie, we _need_ to leave._"

"Right now?" I ask uncertainly.

I feel like a spoiled little girl to hesitate about something so serious, but I've really grown attached to this place. And I have this feeling that if I leave now, I won't be able to come back in the same way, if even at all. Then again, staying right now is probably impossible. If that lightning fiasco is anything to go by, I'm fortunate not to be ash as it is.

"_Unless you want to have a war on your hands._"

Never.

I climb onto Bast's back and grab onto her fur. And even as she leaps over the campers and starts off back towards home, I don't look at Percy, and he doesn't call out anything that I can hear.

As we get further and further away from camp, Bast's speed increases. The wind is harsh at this pace, but it feels good with how stuffy and humid the pre-storm air is right now. Trees are rushing by too quickly for me to even spot them. I wonder if they still look like the trees at camp.

I feel nauseous, and not just because of the running.

"I'll get to visit there again," I say. It comes out as more of a question at the end, though.

"_... The council wants to meet with you. Immediately._"

She doesn't say anything else about it.

**- End of Chapter -**

**Authors Note:** Good golly, Miss Molly, is this thing getting reviews! Thank you so much for your patience and kindness! Alright, to answer a few questions: this FF takes place just after _The Lightning Thief_ and just after _The Red Pyramid_. Not yet explained in the story because I've been batting around which point in time I want to set it in. Essentially, Percy is settled into camp safely, Annabeth is at his side (friend, not romantic partner), and Sadie is currently staying at home while Amos and Carter are out looking for the real Zia (the idea in my head is that Sadie stayed behind incase Zia was looking for _them_ and showed up to the mansion while Carter and Amos were out looking).

As for the hints of Percy/Sadie ... It started off as completely platonic in my head, but then I got comments saying: "What about Percabeth?" and "Percadie ftw!" and I was so confused. So I went back and read chapters 2 and 3 and thought: "Oh - _oh_, wait, yeah. Yeah, I see it. ... How did this happen?" Cupid snuck up on me, I guess. And even now I'm still tossing around the idea of a romantic thing between the two. Rest assured that whatever option I choose, Annabeth won't become the petty hater. She's just a little wary of how attached Percy is to a stranger. And a little wary of Sadie, herself, just like how Sadie was wary of Zia when they first met her.

**Next chapter** is a meeting of the council of the gods, the first appearance of Anubis, and a little drop into Percy's POV. Sadie = B-U-S-T-E-D!


	5. Councils of War

**- Chapter 5 -**

I've never been one to pass up a ripe opportunity or brush away a message from my intuition. It's for that reason that I've made plenty of ... what most would consider to be questionable choices in my life, more often than not ending with me standing in the middle of the living room while Grandmum and Grandad give me the stick.

My point being that I'm used to being in trouble.

So walking into the throne room of the Palace of the Gods to find all of the Council gathered and staring me down disapprovingly; it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it should. I only hold my head up high and focus my eyes on the two, largest thrones at the front of the room. At Horus and Isis. Two familiar faces with two identical frowns.

Horus' eyes almost burn as he says, "Sadie."

Bast, in her human form, bows to him as she steps up behind me. I should probably do the same, but I just can't bring myself to. Horus is too closely associated with Carter in my mind (they were the same person up until just a while ago), and I'd go cliff diving in Grandmum's knickers before I bowed to _my brother_.

"It is only polite," Isis says.

"I thought you were out of my head completely," I say, giving her a wary look.

She covers her eyes delicately with her hand, the perfect picture of exasperation. "Now is not the time, Sadie. You have done something very serious. Very dangerous."

"Was it not inevitable?" says a female goddess with a leopard hide across her shoulders. Carter could probably identify her if he was here. Her expression is serious and her voice is cold as she says, "The Greek pantheon exists alongside our own, our territories nearly splitting the world in half, our powers identical in practice and potency. How could an eventual clash not have been foreseen?"

"The stability of the human world depends on our _not_ clashing," Thoth says, sitting next to her. His head is transformed into a bird right now, but, even so, I can swear that he's smiling at me as he says this to the goddess.

"Is this true, Maat?" Isis asks as she turns to the opposite side of the throne room expectantly.

The woman she's looking at is a goddess with a blank expression on her face and a crown of feathers on her head. She leans back in her throne, placing her chin on her hand and staring off into space thoughtfully. "The balance between our worlds is very precarious and ... volatile. Sadie-" She blinks and looks over to me. "-you have experienced this first hand, have you not? When you touched the son of Poseidon?"

"Touched the - Percy, you mean?" I ask. Did something happen the last time I touched Percy? When _was_ the last time I touched Percy? Am I supposed to remember that?

"I felt it," Isis says solemnly. "The clashing of Greek and Egyptian magic; the first in a very long time." To me, she says, "Do you remember it, Sadie? That moment on the underground train where the son of Poseidon was able to sense your thoughts." To the Council, she adds, "It produced such a disturbance in the magic field, I could, of course, sense it the moment it occurred."

"Yet you failed to inform me of the event," Horus accuses.

Looking properly cowed, Isis says, "I was feared overreaction when I first learned of it."

"Overreaction?" He looks even more hacked off. "Is it an overreaction that we now face war with the Greeks?"

"War? Horus, you're not serious," I say.

He turns his angry gaze onto me, and I instantly regret grabbing his attention. He says, "Do you think I would mock something so serious, Sadie? The Greek and Egyptian worlds have refrained from clashing all this time for a reason." He stands up from his throne and looks around the room. The atmosphere shifts to something that makes my muscles tense and my breath come roughly. "My fellow councilmen, we have tried for so very long to ignore a truth which can no longer be denied. This world does not need two sets of gods. Two divine beings of the same domain. Two _kings_. We have to realize now what we-"

A war speech. Horus is making a _call to arms_ speech. Against the Greeks. We're - we're going to war? _No_, we _can't_.

"-menace who has, for far too long, lived off of the amiability and generosity of our people in allowing them to exist. Yet no longer will we permit this. No longer shall we be forced to share this world - _our world_ - with these people. I ask you lend me your favor in a vote for official declaration of war against the Greeks." He finishes dramatically with an arm held out into the air, as if calling their favor into the palm of his hand.

"I vote to war," says a god with a bull head and enormous muscles. Now _this_ one I recognize. Monthu, the god of war. Bast has complained about him more than once after coming back from Council meetings with a metaphorical black cloud hanging over her head.

"War!" Sekhmet shouts from the other side of the room. Bast tenses up next to me. Horus and Isis were both a little hesitant to let Sekhmet onto the Council, but, in the end, Horus decided that she had an undeniable right to be here, and the relationship between the two parties has gotten better now that Sekhmet has promised not to try to kill Carter and I.

"I have felt this coming for some time now. The time for procrastination has ended," says the goddess with the leopard hide. She raises her hand. "I vote to war, as well."

When her hand goes up, several others around the room do, too. Those who don't raise their hands begin talking amongst themselves.

"Wait just a moment!" I say and step forward. But the (now full-blown) arguments are too loud; my voice gets drowned out in the commotion. "Hello?!" I shout. No reaction. Really now? They're honestly ignoring me? I take a glance around the room: Thoth and Isis are the only ones looking at me (in amusement and wariness, respectively). Even Bast is lost in her own argument with a god sitting at our right, who has the head of a ... oh, _yuck_, he's a dung beetle, isn't he?

Well, sod this. I walk to the middle of the throne room and take in the largest breath my lungs can hold. "Hey!"

And it works. Well, mostly. They stop talking and focus on me. But now Horus is focusing on me, too, and he doesn't look particularly happy.

"This is not your court to shout and make scenes as you please, Sadie," he tells me. His tone has the fatherly reprimand of "now isn't the time, dear" mixed in with the scathing accusation of "this is your fault to begin with."

"I know it's not, but you never gave me a chance to give my opinion," I say.

Horus narrows his eyes. "You act as though you are entitled to do so. You are not here as an advisor, Sadie; we have plenty enough of those in this throne room alone."

"Then why am I here? Because I'm obviously not seeing it then." Bast touches the back of my arm lightly as a warning. I pull my arm away from her and keep my eyes fixed on Horus.

"To testify about your circumstances in entering the Greek world and your time there," he says.

"Which you haven't even let me do," I point out.

That strikes a nerve. He glares at me, and the room suddenly becomes a good bit hotter.

Isis places a gentle hand on his shoulder and gives him a soft smile when he looks back at her. She says, "She speaks the truth." He looks ready to turn on her, so she quickly adds, "The information she has is important to our situation; we should allow her to explain before a decision is made."

"I, for one, would like to hear what Sadie has experienced in her time with the other half," Thoth says, a convincing note in his tone. He looks over at the leopard hide goddess next to him expectantly.

She stares at him for a moment, and then she says, "As would I."

With those two on my side, the rest of the throne room seems to follow after them, nodding and whispering that they want to hear. Thoth and that goddess must be the head advisors or something like that.

Horus looks at the two of them, Isis, and then at me. He turns around and walks back to his throne, where he sits down, Isis doing the same just a second later. He lifts his chin up a little and says, "Then tell us of your experiences, Sadie."

"Thank you," I say, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I don't do a good job of it, apparently, because his lip twitches violently at the corner. I let my eyes travel around the throne room as I say, "First of all, I think you all should know that this is all your fault."

I hear a chuckle off to the side. I think it came from Bes.

"Oh, Sadie," Isis sighs out, covering her eyes with her hand again.

"What? It is! I mean, honestly, _who_ forbids someone from going to a certain place - never explaining why they shouldn't - and expects them to actually obey! It's ridiculous! You're lucky I was the one who broke the rule first! If it was anyone less capable than me who had done it first, the world would have been destroyed by now!"

"Enough, Sadie," Isis says. She looks at me and then cuts her eyes over to Horus meaningfully. He looks like he's losing his patience quickly.

Right-o. Time to make a long story short. "I was curious about what was on the other side of the river, and why I wasn't allowed to go there. So I packed my things and took off for Manhattan. I noticed someone following me, which actually turned out to be a serpent in disguise, but I'm not there yet. I met a boy on the trip, and he wasn't really letting me be, so I gave in and asked if he wanted to get lunch."

"He coerced you into going with him?" Horus asks, sounding wary.

"No, he didn't ... Actually, he might have, but not intentionally." No, that's not the right way to put it. How do I explain? "It seems bad out of context, I mean. You'd have to know his personality."

"Regardless," the leopard hide goddess says promptingly.

I give her a glare for the near-command in her tone. "Regardless, we went out for lunch. He left to make a phone call, but I thought he had simply left, so I walked out of the restaurant. That's when I ran into the drakon. It attacked me, so I fought and defeated it, but I was injured and exhausted from the battle; I ... fainted."

"Your magic presence was so very reduced after that battle. I could hardly sense you," Isis says, concerned. I roll my eyes at her and her motherly instincts.

"The Greek gods sent a monster after you," Horus concludes.

"_No_. No, they didn't. Monsters are running around everywhere in the Greek world. They attack whoever smells particularly delicious to them."

Thoth tilts his head curiously and asks, "They run free?"

I nod. "The gods don't control them. For the most part."

"For the most part," Horus repeats, not sounding convinced.

"My point is that it was an accident. One that I took care of on my own and then fell unconscious. Percy and his friends found me in the alley and took me back to their ... base so I could recover. Actually, it's not really a base. It's a camp. It trains and protects the demigod children of the Greek gods."

"Train them for what?" the leopard hide goddess asks.

I pause, wondering how to respond. "For anything. With the monsters running rampant, they run the risk for a fight every time they step out of campgrounds."

"It could be for us," she says. "Training in preparation for war."

"What a paranoid notion, Seshat," Thoth says affectionately. As affectionately as I've ever known him to be, at least. "They could not have anticipated this anymore than we could."

She glances over at him coldly. "The Greek culture places a heavy emphasis on prophecies and oracles. I would not call it a far-fetched, or _paranoid_, notion that they could have foreseen our eventual clashing. Even without divination, this could have been predicted by any god or goddess with any sort of logical inclination." The "such as myself" part is implied by her tone.

"It's not for us," I cut in quickly. "It's for the monsters, I _promise_." I look over to Horus and say, "They brought me to safety and healed me."

"And then trapped you there," he says.

"They didn't trap me. It's true that I couldn't exactly leave with the monsters outside and Mr. D having confiscated my wand and staff-"

Isis looks scandalized. "They took your wand and staff?"

"-but they didn't shackle me to a wall and starve me to death. They fed me, took care of me, and incorporated me into their own ranks," I say.

"All the while knowing of your true identity?" Horus asks, suspicious.

That draws a pause out of me.

He concludes, "They did not know."

"I'm not sure, alright? I don't think the campers knew, and I'm fairly certain Chiron didn't either. Mr. D might have, though." I blink and add, "Dionysus, I mean. The god of wine. He's the camp director."

"And yet they had you join their ranks. That must have meant they believed you to be a Greek demigod, as well, does it not?" the leopard hide goddess (Seshat, I think Thoth called her) asks. "How could they have made such an oversight?"

I say, "A combination of things: monsters were attacking me like they normally do with demigods, I told them that both of my parents were dead, and I was able to pass through the barrier cast around their camp, which is meant to keep mortals out." I look over at Isis now to ask, "Which I never understood, by the way. Shouldn't that barrier have kept me out?"

She shakes her head slowly. "The best answer I can offer you is that Greek and Egyptian magic tend to equalize each other when contact is made. Surely you were wearing your amulet at the time?" She waits for me to nod and then says, "The amulet casts a slight barrier of Egyptian magic around you. It must have been strong enough to cancel the barrier of the camp."

"Regardless, if they _had_ known of your identity, the outcome would have undoubtedly been very dangerously different," Horus says.

"You can't know that! I said Mr. D might've known who I was, didn't I? And he let me stay."

Horus props his arm up on his armrest and then settles his chin on top of his fist, stare burning into me. "Why would he have allowed your presence in his domain otherwise?"

"Maybe he did it to avoid war." I gesture to the throne room around us, sending the stare right back at him.

He takes a moment to think. He sighs (as though this conversation is _taxing_ for him) and leans back in his chair again. "Unless you can offer proof that he had, in fact, known, I can only assume he was as oblivious as the others. And that he would have taken aggressive action accordingly."

"Then let me get proof for you!"

The soft murmurs in the background of the throne room slow. It's suddenly very quiet in here, and I don't like it one bit.

Horus raises an eyebrow at me. "How would you do that?"

"You could send me-"

"You will _not_ return to that camp!" Isis says.

"-as an ambassador," I finish, cutting my eyes over to Isis. She looks genuinely surprised. I take it as a good sign. "I may not know much of ancient Egyptian society, but you lot have some concept of diplomacy, don't you?"

Seshat says, bemused, "Of course."

"Then put it to work! A war isn't necessary on either side, and if we can move past this event without shot arrows and clashing swords, shouldn't we try to do so?" I demand, crossing my arms. There, I've given my thoughts. Now let's see how good my charisma has gotten ever since Isis hijacked my body.

Seshat, of course, is the first to react. She looks over to Horus and asks, "If I may?"

Bugger me, Seshat, would you shut it already?

Horus waves his hand, giving her the signal to go on.

She stands, her tall stature giving her words a newfound power to them. "The youngling has changed my mind on the matter of war. I believe it would, in fact, be wisest to pursue the possibility peace-making with the Greeks through diplomacy before we run to a potentially world-damaging battle such as the one we have contemplated today."

Oh. As a matter of fact, go ahead and keep talking, Seshat. Please; you have my blessing.

Seshat glances at me for just a moment before she turns back to Horus. She says, "However, I do not believe a child, especially a mortal child, such as this youngling should assume a role as important as the Egyptian ambassador to the Greeks. Perhaps one such as myself, or my husband-" She gestures to Thoth as she sits back down again. "-or perhaps even Our Lady Isis."

Wait, no, strike that last thought. Shut it, Seshat.

Isis turns to Horus. "I agree with Seshat on this matter. Sadie still very young yet; this is too much pressure to place on her."

"Isis!" I shout.

She looks over at me in that stern, motherly way of hers. "I mean this, Sadie."

There's a sinking feeling inside of me that I'm not winning this battle so far. But it _has_ to be me! I'm the one who went to the camp! Fought the monsters! Walked with the Greeks on my own, two feet! They're _my_ friends, and I'm the only one here who actually cares about them!

Calm down, Sadie. Diplomacy means you can't let your strong emotions show. Time to show them how good you can be as an ambassador.

I take in a deep, calming breath, and then I say, "With all due respect, Horus, I'm the person for the job here. I've been living with the Greeks; blending into their society and learning about their customs, their society, and their _people_. Sending someone in to peace making negotiations blind (which you _would_ be doing by sending anyone else in this room) would be asking for disaster."

"I know of their customs and people," Seshat objects.

"But not their _modern_ day customs and people." Ignore the annoying goddess, ignore the annoying goddess, ignore the annoying goddess. "For example, Dionysus is currently barred from drinking alcohol by Zeus. What if the ambassador you sent over had offered him a glass of wine? It would have been taken as a personal offense. That's a mistake we can't afford. I've already learned about those sort of things from my time there; that sort of mistake would never be made."

Horus doesn't look particularly convinced. "Could you not just as easily teach these things to whomever we would select as our ambassador?"

He has me there. I switch tactics. "They would be more satisfied in dealing with someone who has lived in their world at one point or another, don't you think? It gives a sort of connection between us before the negotiations even begin."

"They might feel more threatened by that, actually," Thoth says. "After all, you've seen their ways, Sadie. They might consider you a spy now that they know of your true affiliation."

Oh, brilliant. Now even my allies are conspiring against me.

"The fact that I _am_ a mortal child is a positive thing in this case, too. I'm an outsider to all of this," I say and gesture to the throne room again. "That makes me seem more impartial. More willing to hear both sides of the story and acknowledge both sides' demands. It's better to have an ambassador like that."

"Enough," Horus says, holding up his hand. He stands up from his chair and announces, "I must take time to think on this matter, and the matter of the war, in itself. The council will adjourn for the time being; be prepared to be called back here on a moment's notice when I have made my decision. You are all dismissed."

He turns around and walks briskly out of the room, his steps heavy and his eyes focused intently forward. Around the throne room, several different gods and goddesses disappear in flashes of bright light (I shut my eyes) and gusts of hot, desert wind. Including Seshat, thank the gods. By a minute's time, the throne room is very empty, except for Isis, who remains sitting on her throne with a frown on her face.

"I know you love to play the mother hen, Isis, but now is _not_ the time," I tell her more coldly than I intend to. "I'm trying to save the world and prevent war."

"You believe that I am not?" she asks, seeming offended. "We both strive towards the same end, Sadie. Our disagreement lies in the means to get there."

I glare at her. "I can handle this. In fact, I'm the _only one_ who can handle this. I thought you at least had enough faith in me to know that, but I guess I was wrong."

She clenches her armrests tightly and leans forward in her throne. "How very dramatic you are, Sadie! Acting as though I have slighted you in the worst possible way, though I am only trying to protect you. You are dealing with matters far beyond your capability-." She holds up a hand to stop my forming objection. "-whether you would like to admit it or not."

"And who are _you_ to have decided that on your own?" I demand, pointing at her. Magic is leaking out of me like sweat by this point, threatening to reach a snapping point if I'm not careful. I don't try to reel it back; I know that Isis can sense it, and I _want_ her to. To see how mad she's making me right now.

"Your friend. Your caretaker. The being who shared your body and mind with you at one point."

"Which you never asked to do in the first place!"

She scoffs. "I believe I more than made up for that fact by saving your life on multiple occasions."

"I saved my own life on all of those occasions!"

"With my power! _My_ help!" She points back at me, sand sprouting from the tile at her feet. "Have you any idea how hard I work in order to assure your safety, Sadie? And how _terrified_ I have been ever since you left for the Greeks' city? You disappeared from my sight and power, without warning or provocation. I was _worried_ for you, and now that you have finally returned to us from that very dangerous place, you want to go _back_? What else should I do but object?"

"You should _believe in me_," I say calmly. It's easier to calm down now that I have the image of Isis fretting over me up here in this grand castle all day in my head. It nearly makes me feel guilty. But I've done nothing wrong.

"So you say. Yet the actual act is not so easily done." She sighs and gestures to the door. "You should return to your home."

They're sending me back to the 21st Nome. Well, of course they are. It's not like they'll be letting me back to Camp Half-Blood anytime soon. Still, though, something inside of me deflates at the idea. Maybe the camp has grown on me since my time there, just like Percy said it would.

I say, "At least try to trust me for this one, Isis."

Then I turn around and walk through the slightly ajar front doors of the throne room. The gallant hallway outside is empty and silent; even more so when the doors to the throne room shut magically behind me, cutting me off from Isis. I look around and call out, "Bast?"

"She went on to warn your family about your arrival."

I whirl around. Anubis. Wonderful. He's standing in the shadows of the hallway, looking as gorgeous as he always does with his arms crossed over his chest, his back leaning against the wall, and his combat boots gleaming like they've had a good spit-shine recently.

"I told her I would stay behind to take you back," he says.

I'll get Bast back for this; mark my words. Groaning, I hold my hand out towards him and say expectantly, "Alright then. Come on."

He stares at my hand, his eyebrows rising slightly. "I can't do it here. The null magic on the inside of the Palace is too strong for someone of my age and experience to teleport through. We'll have to go outside first."

I takes me a moment to decode that statement, but when I do, I smile and tease, "You're saying you can't do it because you're too young?"

Bland as ever, he starts walking down the hallway and says, "I hear you've met a similar problem regarding a certain diplomatic mission you want to take. Or did Seshat's comments just go right over your head?"

Following after him, I shove down a grimace and say, "You were there for that, were you?"

"Most of the Egyptians were. Even those who aren't on the Council," he says, nodding.

"Brilliant."

He glances over to me out of his periphery. "You're being selfish, Sadie."

I turn my head to face him. "_Excuse_ me?"

"It's a complicated situation we're in now. Pressuring them towards your own opinion is selfish; you're asking the Council to put the fate of themselves and the whole world in a young girl's hands without question or complaint."

"The Greeks are putting their fate in Percy's hands. And he's done alright so far," I say. Then I remember that Anubis probably has no idea of what I'm talking about, so I add, "He's a demigod son of Poseidon I met at the camp."

Anubis turns his whole head to look at me now. His eyes are searching, breaking down my mental walls and baring whatever lies beneath to the world. It's intense; I want to look away, but I can't back down. Not right now, and especially not to Anubis.

Finally, he turns his head to stare forward again. "Regardless, we're Egyptians, not Greeks. This is a decision we need to make on our own."

"You mean Horus needs to make on his own."

He shoves his hands into his pockets and shrugs a bit. Then he asks, "That camp you were at ... was it fun?"

Which honestly catches me off guard. I think it over for a moment, tilting and examining the question this way and that in my mind before I finally say, "It was. I met a lot of new people. Good people, who don't deserve to die in a needless war."

"It's good that you had fun," he says, nodding again. "You shouldn't do it again, though."

"Yeah? Why not?" I ask warily.

"It was different without you around." He pauses, thinking, and adds, "Everyone was worried. Sad. Things were less ... lively."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, a death pun. How creative." So I say, but hearing that sparks up something in me at his words. It feels nice and worrying at the same time. I say, "But thank you."

No reaction. We reach the front doors of the Palace, which open for us when he holds his hand out towards them. The outside courtyard is warm, sunny, and lush, like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara. Once we step out of the doors, I feel my magic grow stronger. There are barriers on the Palace that dampen magic as a defense system against enemies who might try to teleport in and cause some mayhem.

He holds his hand out to me this time. "Are you ready?"

No. No, I'm really not. Uncle Amos and Carter (maybe even Khufu, too) are probably furious with me. But there isn't really another option.

I take his hand and shut my eyes as a bright, green light explodes around us.

Sadie left a few hours ago on the back of giant leopard monster. You'd think that would be pretty typical in the demigod lifestyle. That I shouldn't really be surprised by something like that. But I can tell you now that even by half-blood standards, Sadie is pretty unique: she always sleeps with the same pillow that has strange markings on it, she acts really nervous whenever I ask her about her parents, and she told me she was a vegan when we first met, even though I saw her about to take a bite out of a chicken leg at dinner last night.

"What do you think, Percy?"

I look up. Everyone sitting around the ping pong table is staring at me. I try to think of a response, but I'm still kind of lost in my thoughts, so all that comes out is, "Uh ..."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "About the army that attacked this afternoon."

Lee says, "That army and that girl, Sadie, were on the same side, right? Jimmy told me that Sadie said she was something other than Greek before she ran."

"She said pretty much the same thing to us before the battle. We thought she was joking, but ..." Travis trails off, shrugging. Connor nods.

"But what else could she be?" Katie asks us all.

Annabeth says, "That's the question of the hour. Who are we up against?"

That makes me snap out of my thoughts pretty quickly. I sit up and says, "Wait, who says they're our enemies?"

"We were _fighting_ them thirty minutes ago, doofus," Clarisse says.

"Sadie is our friend," I say, glaring at her.

"Or she might have wanted us to believe she was," Castor says. "She sounds like a spy to me."

There are a lot of nods that go off around the table. Oh, man.

I say, "Travis, Connor, come on: you guys know Sadie. She's not a spy."

They look at each other. Connor says, "Sadie didn't seem like a spy to us."

"But we didn't know her long enough to be sure," Travis adds.

I shake my head. "She's _not_ a spy! Who could she have even been spying _for_?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Annabeth says, giving me one of those looks. Those looks that say, "Shut up, Seaweed Brain." without really saying it out loud.

"Kronos?" Beckendorf offers.

Silena says, "That would still make her Greek, though."

"She made it past the barrier," Lee says.

"So she's not a mortal ... but she's not Greek," Katie says, looking confused. "What does that make her?"

Beckendorf snorts. "Something Zeus doesn't want around. You see that lightning at the end?"

"Sent her and that kitty-cat of hers running, that's for sure," Clarisse says, smirking.

"Hey, shut up, Clarisse," I tell her.

"Something has been bothering me about that, actually." Annabeth suddenly says. We all look over at her. "The lightning at the end. The first bolt was a warning, but the second would have hit them both. It was intercepted by another bolt before it could reach them. If the first and second bolts came from Zeus, where did the third one come from?"

Beckendorf shrugs and says, "The same place the cats came from, right?"

Annabeth looks down at the table, thinking. She says, "They have armies of monsters, the ability to control lightning, and what about that symbol that appeared in the sky before the monsters vanished?"

"What about it?" Castor asks.

"It looked like some sort of hieroglyph," she says.

Which goes right over my head. I ask, "What is that?"

She turns to me. "It's ancient Egyptian writing."

"Egyptian," Lee repeats, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

I think I stop breathing for a second. There's a pause that goes around the whole ping pong table. Everyone looks between each other.

Clarisse suddenly slams her hands down onto the table. "You've got to be kidding me! There are more gods out there? _Egyptian_ ones?"

"Whoa," Connor murmurs.

Annabeth holds up her hand, cutting off everyone else's reaction. "It's just a guess. But it's the best explanation I've been able to come up with so far."

"So - so what about Sadie?" I ask, feeling disbelief starting to take me over. "Is she some kind of Egyptian demigod or something?"

"She might be. Or some Egyptian equivalent of a demigod. We can't assume their gods and goddesses are exactly like ours," Annabeth says.

Clarisse says, "So the Egyptians sent her over here to spy on the Greeks. Think they're planning to start a war?"

"Would you get off of this spy thing?" I say, fisting my hand on the table. "Even if Sadie is an Egyptian demigod, she isn't a spy! She said she snuck out; that the army was only there to bring her back home."

"Where is her home? Did she tell you?" Annabeth asks suspiciously.

I shift in my chair a little. "No, she never said."

"Where did you first meet her then?" Silena asks.

"We took the same subway to Manhattan. I'd gotten an IM from my ... from Poseidon. Annabeth knows," I say, gesturing to her. She nods. "He said he needed to talk to me about a suspicious ship he'd found, but he didn't trust doing it over an IM. He said he would leave a message for me with a nereid in the East River, so I went over to check it out. But on the subway on the way there, I saw the drakon eyeing Sadie and stepped in before it could make a move. It didn't look like it wanted to attack her when I was around. She told me she was coming to Manhattan to sight see, and I told her I was going to visit my dad."

"Where did the subway run?" Annabeth asks.

Have to think about that one for a little bit. "Um, it was a track with a lot of stops. Ran along the coast of the East River and started at the rail that runs across the Manhattan Bridge."

"That's Brooklyn," Annabeth says.

"Across the river," Chiron says, walking into the room. The way he says it, like it's the most serious secret in existence, makes me feel a little nervous. He continues on into the room and then stops at the only open spot around the ping pong table. "I hope you all will forgive me for my absence: I needed a brief word with Mr. D before his departure."

Silena asks, "Where is he going?"

"To Olympus, along with the other Olympians. A meeting is being called. It seems-" He pauses, half-smiling and half-grimacing. "It seems we are facing a war before us. Not with Kronos, but with our Egyptian cousins on the other side of the river."

Oh, man.

The 21st Nome looks just the same as I left it. Naturally. Why should it have changed in the short (because, regardless of how it might have felt, it _was_, in fact, short) time that I've been gone? And yet it feels almost surreal that it looks exactly the same. As if there _should_ be change. Or maybe it's just me that's changed.

"You're stalling, Sadie," Anubis says. He's standing by my side as we both look up at the 21st Nome. Turning around, he pockets his hands and starts walking the other way. "You should go inside; they are waiting for you."

Maybe I am stalling. And maybe I'll do it for a little longer. "If it was up to you, would you make me the ambassador?"

He stops walking, but he keeps his back facing towards me. The silence is tense.

In a sudden flash of green light, he vanishes.

That jackal-headed _git_! He better be prepared to be changed into a tree frog the next time I see him!

I swallow roughly as I turn back to face the building. Alright ... time to go then. Come now, Sadie, no nerves. Weren't you just telling yourself a while ago that you're used to being in trouble? This confrontation with Carter, Uncle Amos, and Bast is no different than the Council one earlier. No different at all.

I step through the doors of the warehouse and start climbing the stairs.

Except this _is_ a bit different than the one from earlier, in the same way the Council confrontation was different from lectures from my grandparents. These people care about me; they were all worrying about me. There's some guilt mixed in with the righteousness I feel now, and I don't like it. It makes my stomach twist in knots and my palms sweat a bit.

Out of the warehouse and onto the roof. I stare at the front doors, take a deep breath, and push them open.

It's blessedly deserted in the main entryway. At least they-

"Agh!" Khufu shouts. I look up and see him hanging from a banister on the wall across from the doors, staring straight at me. The little pest was waiting for me so he could raise the alarm!

"Khufu, no!"

"Agh, agh, agh!" he calls even louder.

I slash my hand through the air, saying, "Get stuffed, you annoying chimp!"

He sticks his tongue out at me, the little bugger.

Footsteps. Those are the sounds of footsteps, aren't they?

Carter and Uncle Amos stride into the room a moment later, Bast trailing behind them. Bast and Uncle Amos have dangerously serious expressions on their faces, but Carter - Carter looks _angry_. His hands are fisted at his sides, his jaw clenched, his eyes squinted, and his cheeks flushed. I've only seen his truly angry expression a few times before, and I can honestly say that I much prefer him looking annoyed, exasperated, or confused towards me than angry.

"Sadie," Uncle Amos says, inclining his head towards me in a small nod. This solemn attitude coming from him is nothing less than disturbing.

"Hello, Uncle," I say, waving a bit.

He smiles, though the seriousness stays in his eyes. "Good to have you back."

"And to be back." I nod. My eyes drift over to Carter. He's still angry, but now, he's moving towards me. I say, "Now, before you throw a fit: you _know_ how I am, Carter. If someone forbids something or some place from me, you know I _must_ do it or go there. It's simply who I am-"

Moving closer yet. I feel my heart beating a bit faster.

"-and I can't be blamed for that. ... I can manage myself just fine, Carter; you know that. I came back here unharmed, didn't I?" Bast scoffs here. It's still not working. "So what is this then? You were worried? Well, you probably wouldn't have been so worried about me if you had actually bothered to trust me. Your feelings are your own fault; don't you dare use me as a outlet for your frustration, because I won't stand for it."

That stops him. He unclenches and then re-clenches his fists, his brow contorting in a look of fury mixed with disbelief. "You're ... you're honestly trying to blame me for not trusting you?" He shakes his head a few times. "Gods, Sadie."

"It's true! This is on you, Carter! If you had been here, I wouldn't have had the chance to sneak out! This is your-"

The sentence cuts off (my breath, too) when he throws his arms around me and pulls me into him. He's a good bit taller than me, so my face is pressed against his collarbone, which is more than a little bit uncomfortable, but his arms are trembling around me, and he's breathing harshly into the top of my hair. All in all, it's a very mixed-signal hug. And extremely strange, too. Carter and I may be brother and sister, but doing affectionate, sibling-like actions like hugging has certainly never been our modus operandi.

Then again, maybe that is why this moment seems so significant. Why I can't bring myself to push him away.

And though I'm certainly not going to hug him back (I haven't completely lost my mind, after all), I can at least allow him a few moments of this before I shove him back from me and start again on my mission to verbally pin this whole mess on him.

**- End of Chapter -**

**Authors Note:** The new Red Pyramid books have completely demolished this story's sync rate with the actual series. The Egyptian gods and goddess I had imagined being so-and-so in their manners and ways are nothing like their book counterparts. But I suppose that is why I set the divergence point so early in the Kane Chronicles series.

I had a hard time trying to imagine Sadie's reaction to being in _this_ much trouble. She seems (to me, at least) like the sort to shove the blame onto someone else. I might be wrong about that, but that is why she does it twice in this chapter.

No excuse for the late update. I suck, I know. If you want to know, I _honestly_ believed the last time I had updated this story was just a few months ago. And then I checked the story online and discovered, no, actually, I haven't updated in a year. You deserve better. I hope this chapter is somewhat appeasing. Not, you know, that I'm trying to bribe you. I'd never do that, because that would be _immoral_ and _wrong_.


End file.
